642 Remarks on Mr. Mallet's 



where he says : — " Every young gardener, at the present day, 

 ought to travel abroad," &c. ; and that " a careful attentive 

 young man could and ought to have saved 80/. by the time 

 he is twenty-four years of age, with which he may remain 

 three months on the Continent," &c. What the means are 

 which Mr. Mallet possesses of ascertaining the resources of 

 young gardeners, I am ignorant of; but, as the pages of the 

 Magazine are open to discussion, I take this opportunity to 

 contradict the accuracy of his statements ; believing experience 

 to be as good, if not a better, standard to judge from than 

 the strictest observation. I do not deny that the individual 

 who remains long in one establishment, where he may have 

 the privilege of receiving useful books to read, may and ought 

 to save a little money ; but, in the generality of circumstances 

 in which young men are placed, those who are anxious to secure 

 thorough knowledge of their profession move about from one 

 celebrated establishment to another, and from their slender 

 incomes purchase some of those volumes which they consider 

 necessary for explaining the practice and principles of their 

 art. To young men thus situated, these doctrines of Mr. 

 Mallet are not only unreasonable, but almost as remarkable 

 for their apparent impossibility of application, as a mathema- 

 tical axiom is for its incontrovertible truth. If the Magazine 

 were read by gardeners only, the very attempt to contradict 

 assertions so manifestly erroneous would be an insult to their 

 understanding, and equally as foolish as if I were endeavour- 

 ing to convince them that the sun did shine, at the very 

 moment they were basking in his enlivening beams. But 

 since the Magazine is subscribed for and read by many of the 

 employers of gardeners, it becomes a matter of some import- 

 ance that they should remain under no misconception or 

 delusion relative to the true situation in which young gar- 

 deners are placed; for, according to Mr. Mallet, instead of 

 having difficulties to contend with, we possess the means of 

 soon arriving at comparative independence. I freely allow 

 that in many gentlemen's gardens the young men are pretty 

 comfortable; but, without fear of contradiction, I likewise 

 assert, that in general we have more privations to submit to 

 than any other class of men. To be convinced of this, it is 

 not necessary to run over a long list of the disadvantages 

 under which we labour; since the scantiness of our pecuniary 

 resources, and the attainments in knowledge we are required 

 to make, will be quite sufficient for any open unprejudiced mind. 

 Journeymen's wages seldom exceed, and are frequently lower 

 than, those of the common labourer, who has had no set time 

 to serve, no apprentice fee to pay, and no expensive journeys to 



